Education
Learning for Life
New Zealand children need high quality learning opportunities in a safe and stimulating environment. New Zealanders must have access to education at all stages of life, from early childhood through primary, secondary, tertiary education and on into lifelong learning. United Future New Zealand believes education is a public good and must therefore be publicly funded.
United Future believes that quality education is the key to a fair, strong and prosperous society. Quality education leads to full participation in community life, to enhanced employment opportunities, health and well-being and the formation of good relationships. It means our children have a much greater opportunity to reach their full potential.
United Future will promote:
- Quality character based education: an education that balances character and values education with academic excellence
- Effective and relevant education: where education is relevant to the demands of a modern society and to providing real skills to the job market
- Accountability: where the cost of education is recognised and treated as an investment and where the performance of educational providers is therefore measured and expected to be of a required standard.
Pre-School Education
An Excellent Start to the Early Years
Experiences gained in the early years of a child's life are the most important for social, cognitive, physical and cultural development.
Success in these early years generally equates to success in later years. United Future believes that investment in high quality early childhood education can address some of the socio-economic disadvantages many children face.
United Future believes that parents are a child's first teacher. Therefore, it is parents rather than governments, who are best placed to choose the most appropriate form of care and education for their children. For some parents this will be in the community and for others it will be the home environment.
United Future will:
- Guarantee all pre-school children over the age of three years, the right to access up to 15 hours per week early childhood education.
- Adequately resource the Parents As First Teachers Programme to guarantee all at risk children and their families a place on the programme and progressively expand the programme to include all families.
- Increase tax rebates currently available for child care costs.
- Legislate the Te Whaariki early childhood curriculum into the early childhood framework to ensure that all childhood education providers offer high quality pre-school education in a culturally sensitive and stimulating environment.
- Increase funding for early identification of children with special needs and disabilities with targeted systematic, intensive and high quality interventions.
- Encourage parental involvement in the development of early childhood education policy through consultation, dialogue and partnerships with providers.
- Fund quality early childhood education to ensure that no child is denied access due to cost. Kindergarten funding will be increased and the Correspondence School early childhood provision extended
- Ensure the quality of early childhood centres through a system of licences, charters and training
- Ensure that early childhood education teachers are trained to recognise children with behavioural disorders or potential difficulties
- Fund support workers in early childhood centres according to need is identified and where Individual Education Programmes (IEP) have been approved
- Provide for further development of Te Kohanga Reo and Pacific Island language nests in recognition of their contribution to the cultural enrichment of a child's education.
Primary And Secondary Schooling
Opportunities for Young New Zealanders
New Zealanders need to be assured that the benefits of early childhood education are not lost but rather consolidated as our children progress through the education system. United Future recognises that parental commitment is a fundamental component of a school's success. Parents want the best education for their children. They want good information about their children's progress. They want teachers who are knowledgeable about the curriculum, assessment and evaluation of learning, and who are enthusiastic, skilled, accessible, caring and motivated. Quality education is the underlying core principle of our education policy. We will ensure that schools fulfil their 'open for instruction' requirements. United Future will encourage, nurture and embrace excellence while recognising the special and ongoing needs of educational users.
United Future will:
- Establish a national, centralised database to track student enrolment and attendance
- Ensure that class sizes do not exceed 20 in junior classes and 28 in all others
- Increased resources for years 1, 2, and 3 in primary schools for reading, writing and arithmetic.
- Extend the Te Whaariki curriculum to ease transition from pre school to primary school.
- Expand the current vision and hearing tests in schools to include years 1, 3, 5 and 7.
- Initiate a fully funded school milk and apple-a-day programme to cater for some of the nutritional needs of our children.
- Increase funding for information technology and communication so that schools are empowered locally yet, informed globally.
- Ensure children with special needs, gifts and disabilities are supported with high quality interventions and resources.
- Ensure reading recovery and remedial mathematics programmes, visiting teachers, and speech language therapists are available to meet the needs of children experiencing learning or behavioural difficulties
- Expand the provision of guidance unit teachers for primary schools to meet the needs of children having difficulties
- Resource ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) programmes better so that immigrants can participate fully in education as soon as possible after their arrival.
- Expand Kura Kaupapa Maori immersion programmes and the initiation of children into Maori culture, including Te Reo Maori, where requested by parents.
- Introduce a choice of a second language at primary level
- Recognise of parental choice through increased support for independent schools.
- Abolish school zoning to allow parents and children freedom of choice for their educational needs.
- Guarantee right of access to the neighbourhood school
- Increase funding for existing study support centres in schools, for after-school supervision and homework support, and examine ways in which this support might be extended to other groups.
- Fund youth clinics in Secondary Schools to offer advice and guidance on planning, to achieve their educational and life goals, including careers information, health, lifestyle and budgeting advice.
- Encourage the use of school facilities outside school time for parental education centres.
- Encourage safety on the roads by instituting driver education programmes in schools.
- Increase rates of A and B Bursaries, which have not increased since 1982
- Implement a comprehensive education strategy relating to all aspects of the use and misuse of drugs in contemporary society.
- Oppose the decriminalisation of cannabis due to the significant health risks and the massive social costs that it imposes.
Values Education
United Future believes that schools have an important role to play in shaping engaging, confident and considerate citizens. United Future supports the 1993 New Zealand Curriculum Framework, which states that attitudes and values, along with knowledge and skills, are an integral part of the New Zealand Curriculum.
Education throughout life is based on four pillars: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be. Values education based on honesty, reliability, respect for others, respect for the law, tolerance, fairness, caring and social responsibility are important in preparing young New Zealanders for participation in New Zealand society. United Future believes that character education must be integrated between schools and communities.
United Future will:
- Require schools to introduce a character education programme into their school curriculum, in accordance with the 1993 Curriculum Framework, by establishing character education grants to schools, to train teachers in methods of incorporating character-building lessons and activities in the classroom.
- Review the existing 1993 Curriculum Framework and introduce a stronger philosophical base to broaden children's cognitive skills by teaching children 'how to think' rather than 'what to think'.
- Establish links between the private sector and schools in order to facilitate community involvement and support for character education.
- Realise that different communities and cultures have differing values and therefore support 'a community by community' approach to character education.
Teachers
Support and Recognition for our Teachers and Principals
Teachers play a vital role in ensuring our children reach their full potential. Unfortunately, too many graduate teachers are left on their own with no supervision and support. United Future believes teachers must be accorded the support and remuneration that they deserve. Equally, parents have the right to know if their child is receiving quality education and that their teacher is effective and accountable.
United Future will:
- Make teaching a more attractive career option for high performing students through more realistic career development opportunities.
- Review teacher training and entry provisions to cope with anticipated teacher shortages arising from the ageing of practising teachers
- Address teacher workloads by providing for non-contact time for planning, developing resources and professional dialogue
- Consult with teacher organisations to develop career pathways with recognised entry and exit provisions, and leave and support structures
- Support the continuance of compulsory teacher registration.
- Ensure all graduate teachers are supervised and supported by the Ministry of Education for a minimum of three years through a supportive advice and guidance programme, including in-service training.
- Guarantee teacher education providers offer viable, comprehensive and competency-based training courses.
- Implement performance appraisal systems and professional development programmes tailored to identified needs, including sabbatical leave and early retirement options
- Provide funding to make certain all teachers receive continuing education, particularly in the areas of information and communication technology.
- Ensure teacher education providers include training for working with children who have disabilities.
- Support economic initiatives for teacher placements in low decile schools, and in the subject areas of maths, science and technology at the secondary level.
- Recruit more Maori, Pacific Island, Asian and male students into teacher education.
- Future-proof the curriculum so that it is relevant to the needs of children today.
Tertiary Education
Accessable education for all New Zealanders
All New Zealanders must have access to education throughout their lifetime. Good quality relevant education is the key to participation in society and leads to greater health, well-being and self esteem. United Future believes that tertiary education must be quality education; it must be viable and accountable.
United Future will:
- Retain tertiary institutions in public ownership, as this is the best way for them to fulfil their statutory obligations to teach and research, account for educational and financial outcomes, protect academic freedom and autonomy, develop and implement strategic plans, and report annually to Parliament.
- Recognise the present range of tertiary education providers. We are committed to the principles of institutional autonomy and academic freedom as set out in the 1989 Education Act. We will not undermine the right of institutions to manage their educational and financial affairs and therefore we will not interfere in the setting of fees.
- Increase core funding for tertiary institutions to 80% of the course costs and indicative triennial funding
- Review the number of equivalent full-time student (EFT) places for higher degrees
- Encourage significant investment in new knowledge areas like IT and also innovative scientific areas, while recognising the role of traditional academic subjects
- Ensure the national qualifications framework is linked to tertiary institutions
- Review the structure of tertiary councils. Resolution must be reached through consultation and negotiation to guarantee institutions enjoy flexibility. Ministerial appointments should comprise no more than a third of the councils, and staff and students should retain representation.
- Establish and reasonably resource an ERO type watchdog body for the sector
- Establish a tertiary education policy framework specifying the government's objectives.
- Restructure the Tertiary Education Commission to better monitor all tertiary providers and ensure that students are accorded excellent, quality and effective education.
- Ensure that the Tertiary Education Commission has student representation.
- Ensure that the present range of tertiary education providers is always appropriate to New Zealand's needs and size as a country.
- Introduce national guidelines for capital expenditure in tertiary education with projects costing more than $1 million requiring approval from the Tertiary Education Commission.
- Limit polytechnic expansion to university status, to enable universities to retain their special role as institutions of research as well as learning, while emphasising the vocational focus of polytechnics.
- Require tertiary institutions to include policies on disabled students in their charters and to report on these annually.
- Review current cost categories of Tertiary Institutions to reflect the real costs of provision for students, to better control the cost of student fees.
- Increase base funding for Tertiary Institutions.
- Encourage tertiary institutions to form collaborative relationships and share resources in libraries, health services, information technology, services for disabled students, printing and other areas to lower costs and improve services to students.
- Encourage Tertiary Institutions to share more academic resources such as course designs and senior lecturers, with the aim of improving academic quality.
- Encourage links between tertiary providers and industry to ensure that skills taught are relevant and required in labour market.
Student Support
Student loans impose burdens on families, preventing young people from entering family commitments and driving young talented people overseas. The student loan burden has increased, is continuing to increase and must be diminished.
United Future will modify the student allowance scheme to make it more equitable and accessible by:
- Abolish parental income testing of student allowances for students over 20 years
- Adjusting the parental income threshold in line with the CPI to allow for the costs of living and raising children.
- Providing greater support for those students who are required to move for their course of study.
- Reviewing the Accommodation Benefit portion of Student Allowances, to better reflect the real costs of living.
- United Future will also modify the student loan scheme to make it more family friendly by:
- Freezing interest for parents for the first two years of their child's life.
- Adjusting parents' repayment threshold, to better reflect the extra costs of child-rearing.
- Limit interest on student loan repayments to movements in the CPI (Consumers Price Index) and administration costs and retain the present no interest while studying policy
- United Future will also:
- Restore access to the Emergency Unemployment Benefit for students unable to find work over summer period.
- Provide additional support for modern apprenticeships
- Establish a system of scholarships between tertiary providers and the private sector.
- Raise the B and A Bursary, which have not increased since 1982
Continuing Education
Our communities need ongoing educational provision, whatever our age or educational background. United recognizes that adult education is an important part of community growth and everyone should have the opportunity to engage in worthwhile debate, learn new skills and enhance their quality of life.
The New Zealand population is ageing yet the elderly are fitter, healthier, and more active than in former times. They have much to contribute, they want to contribute and to be informed. They are an overlooked group whose education needs must be addressed if they are to successfully adjust to retirement, maintain their independence and look after their physical well-being.
Relationships between Maori and Pakeha and increasing migration emphasise the need to bring people together, identify and address their needs, and provide educational programmes which encourage understanding and strengthen integration of communities.
We need to:
- Recognise that learning needs continue throughout life
- Ensure access to adult education in urban and rural communities
- Integrate learning opportunities into life patterns
- Increase participation in learning
- Develop a long-term plan for adult and community education
- Encourage organisations to adapt and provide for the above.
United Future will:
- Form a working group, including officials, educators and the community, to develop a comprehensive plan for adult and community education
- Develop and extend partnerships between government, community and educational providers, to examine the resources and funding needed to deliver programmes
- Establish a network of 'rural education posts' to serve as information centres, meeting places and providers
- Fund the continuation of adult community education through secondary schools, continuing education at universities and extramural courses at tertiary institutions
- Work with rural and urban communities to determine the most appropriate provision of learning opportunities, and will use currently under or unutilised educational property as resource bases.
Special Education Sector
Special Education is central to United Future's commitment that every child gets a good start. There must be no barrier to learning and participation. Children with special education needs or behavioural or learning difficulties are entitled to every educational opportunity. It is essential to meet the specific learning and developmental needs of these children and to provide adequate resources.
This involves:
- adaptation of the physical environment and equipment such as computers and audio and visual devices
- developing the curriculum so that initiation into the areas of knowledge are included
- funding to assist integration and break down remaining barriers
- expanded initiatives for high tech, innovative and specialist knowledge economy courses and programmes.
Attitudes towards people with disabilities have changed over recent years as many of us have learnt and worked alongside those with disabilities. We still have a long way to go. The ideals of partnership between caregivers, children, educators and the community is of paramount importance. This will encourage an increased focus on disability needs through greater participation of, and contact between, these key groups.
United Future will:
- Support parents who wish to enrol their children in regular settings, units attached to schools or special schools
- Maintain the Special Education Service with its own board and accountability to Parliament
- Empower the Special Education Service to assess, monitor, and provide services for children with disabilities, to develop special programmes, support and advise teachers and parents, and provide information services
- Require colleges of education and teacher training agencies to include courses in working with children with disabilities in their curricula
- Contract providers to deliver in-service programmes for early childhood, primary and secondary teachers to improve their skills in identifying, evaluating, monitoring, and modifying behavioural and learning difficulties
- Expand the provision of guidance learning units for working with children with behavioural and learning needs, and support teachers working with these children
- · Guarantee needs-based funding for children with profound physical, intellectual or sensory disability
- · Ensure that children with behavioural and learning difficulties are supported through the operations grant
- Ensure tertiary institutions write policies for students with disabilities into their charters and report to Parliament annually
- · Provide a special EFTS category for tertiary students with disabilities to improve their access to further education
United Future Parliamentary Office: Bowen House, Lambton Quay, Wellington
Email: Phone: (04) 471 9890
|